A FEW MOMENTS WITH…CASLEAH HERWALDT (Grabbing Life By the Stem)
Growing up in Michigan as the oldest of 3 girls, Casleah Herwaldt’s introduction to wine began while she was still young. Her father made his own sweet wine, so the seeds (cuttings?) as they say, were planted early on. In high school, the idea of being a certified nurse seemed like a possible career choice. Until she saw how much blood was involved, so that road quickly changed direction, but not completely. The decision to pursue occupational therapy then became the career path, as Cas pursued a degree in health care.
Married at 21, the newlyweds soon moved from Michigan to Kansas City. It was here, through the help of a girlfriend who enjoyed wine and then subsequently working at a local wine shop, that the wine bug bit Cas big time. After Kansas City it was on to Southern California, but the split life of wine and health care continued until March 2020 (yes…that March). The weekend before “shutdown”, Cas attended an event that would change the trajectory of her life.
BP: So it’s been awhile. How have things been since the last time I talked with you, you know…prior to the “fun” that was 2020?
CH: It’s been a busy year. Virtual tasting took off almost immediately after the shutdown, I launched my own wine brand, a wine club, and took my WSET exam last week.
BP: Busy indeed, you really were able to get a lot of things going last year. Going back a bit, when did you realize that wine was more than just a drink for you?
CH: Yea, I certainly was. Wine has always been a part of my life. My dad grew up on a vineyard and at my grandma’s house we would play in the vines and help pick the grapes. Now, the wine they made was sweet Michigan wines, my dad would always be fermenting things and letting me taste them. But then when I moved to Kansas City, one of my girlfriends got me to try red wine, I remember it was Simi Landslide Cabernet Sauvignon and the sommelier walked me through the tasting. She wanted me to think of a fireplace or being near a campfire and to think of the smells and feelings I would have near a campfire. Then she had me smell it, and it was exactly like that! From that moment on, I needed to learn more about this.
BP: When did the idea first arise to move into wine on a more full-time basis?
CH: That actually occurred during the first couple weeks of the pandemic. I had taken time off of my health care job, where I was really just on call anyway. The reason being, that I had attended the James Suckling Great Italian Wine Festival the weekend before the shutdown and was close to and touching literally hundreds of people. I felt that because of this I shouldn’t be at work, and after a day back my job and I decided I should stay home for a couple of weeks. During that 2 weeks, so many things fell into place. First, a friend called to get some wine. I told her, if you buy a case I’ll throw in a virtual tasting with it. I had been doing some in-person tastings for the past couple of years, but this was totally new. One of the attendees, who happened to be employed by Google and her husband by Snap chat, loved the experience and wanted to use tastings as team building exercises and that’s when it really took off. I decided pretty quickly that it was time to pursue this full time. I ended up never going back. As a matter of fact I just got a layoff letter the other day. (laughs)
BP: How did you approach and succeed at growing your brand?
CH: I started my Instagram to promote my in home wine tastings as well as posting all the wines I liked on my personal page. But I really needed to come up with something else, and my husband came up with the name by the stem. Like when you swirl your wine in the glass. I just loved the name. Once we did that, it grew really fast. Obviously, people really love wine. Then once I reached 1,000 followers, a sangria company reached out to me, Bass Note Sangria. They asked if they could send me some sangria, and I was like sure. (laughing)
BP: Did you find that anything you were doing had a significant impact in growing your followers?
CH: Around this time, I got connected with an engagement group, which hooked me up with a bunch of people talking about wine. Once I joined that group it (Instagram followers) started growing a lot. Soon I was connecting with a lot of people online, but had never met in person, so I put together a meet near where I live. It went really well, so I started hosting larger wine meet and greets in Napa. This is probably my favorite thing, being able to meet so many people, and that’s how it grew to where it is now. Networking and meeting people.
BP: Decision to become a SOMM, did you want to work in the restaurant industry or just want to improve your knowledge?
CH: Ah, when I was living in Kansas City and working at the wine market, this wine rep who was an advanced sommelier, would come in. He would have his pin on and knew so much about wine and I found that fascinating. I thought “I want a pin!” So I signed up for CMS 1, but then shortly after that my husband got a job here in California so I had to fly back to Kansas City to take my CMS 1 test. Then here in California, I got hooked up with Cristie Norman at Spago and the blind tasting thing. It was pretty cool, because that group was just for Certified and up and I was just a level 1. But I wanted to be involved so I got there early to help and stayed late to clean up and became a part of it, as I studied for my Level 2. This is also when I got my WSET 1 and 2.
BP: It seems like you believe in yourself and are always ready to take on any challenge.
CH: I love meeting people and trying new things. It was about this time I was on a plane and met a women named Lisa Long. We started to talking about wine and though I was just a Level 1 she said she was opening a small 10 table restaurant and needed a sommelier. I said “I can do that”, so she hired me and I worked there for about 6 months. I messed up all the time. I barely knew that St Emilion was on the Right Bank, I dropped trays of glasses and I didn’t know to towel the top of a champagne bottle when opening…but I learned so much. The main thing I learned is that I don’t want to work in a restaurant. (laughs)
BP: So it seems that WSET is more your direction now rather than moving on with CMS.
CH: Yea, it’s kinda more of my vibe. It’s more about just learning about wine, and with my virtual tastings, the focus is on education, so the diploma program with WSET fits more into what I’m doing.
BP: When did the idea of branding your own wine pop into your head?
CH: I was selling for Prohibido Wines, I had met the owner on Instagram. He was sending me wines to post and one day he said “I’m so busy I need to hire a rep” and I said “Oh. I can do that” (editors note: are you seeing a theme here?) Then through that he introduced me to my current winemaker Peter. Then in July last year, I was up in Napa / Sonoma with my husband to take my WSET 3 exam. After I finished that, we were hanging with Peter and Cesar (winemaker) at their custom crush facility and after a “few” glasses of wine, we started sharing ideas and dreams. I tasted the rose that they had and knew that this was everything I would want my rose to have. I told them that and they said “we have plenty, we can make that happen”. I was like “really?, what else can we make?” (Laughing)
BP: So that lead to the Pinot Noir?
CH: Yea, the Pinot was still in the barrels so I had much more say in what the blend was going to be like. There was some earthy, some fruity and some acidic tart Pinots and we were able to come up with a blend. Then I called my friend and told her I needed a label. It had to whimsical, with some water colors and gaudy gold splashed all over it and she knew exactly what I wanted. I thought it was just a cool idea to just have a few bottles made up, but then people started buying it. Then we bottled more..its so weird to see my name on a bottle on the internet.
BP: So with it selling now, are you handling fulfillment or do you have someone?
CH: I met Bob who owns a distribution company. He had DM’d me through Linked In and he lives just right down the street. I actually walk to his house. He’s been a true Godsend. He has all the licenses and equipment to take care of everything. My wine sits on his websites and ships all through him.
BP: How did your wine club come about?
CH: That was Bob as well, he has such an amazing portfolio of small production, Italian, Portuguese wines. Really amazing stuff. He said why don’t we create a wine club? We could incorporate your wine in with all of my other portfolio wines and send them out. So that’s pretty much how that came about. My second shipment just went out. It’s small right now, but I offer virtual tastings with it, so we all jump on zoom and talk about them and I can even have the winemakers on it sometimes. I’m really excited to see where the wine club goes.
BP: I think your catch phrase should be “I can do that”
CH: I just feel I can, I also think you should give everyone the time of day, you never know what someone has to offer unless you do. Recently I got a random DM from a small account that I wasn’t following, who asked me to fill out a form. I thought OK and filled it out. It ended up being a feature on Huffington Post. It’s like with what you’re doing, I think it’s going to be huge and I want to be a part of that.
BP: Thank you, I really appreciate that. I like the idea of listening and seeing what’s going on out there as well. That being said, how do you feel you can make the wine industry better?
CH: Wow, good question. I think we need to open the industry up a little more. It’s always been this sort of closed group of men who only listen to you if you have all of your certifications. I’d like to make it more open to everyone, So maybe you like natty, faulty wines or canned rose, that’s cool. There’s a place for you. The more opinions and personalities in the industry, the better it’s gonna be.
BP: As a woman, any roadblocks to success or just hard work?
CH: I think with some crowds I notice it a bit, but I also think having the credentials has been very beneficial. Being certified has certainly given me some clout. I guess I feel for those who have a ton of experience but without official credentials don’t get the respect. But that’s another thing. To be a certified sommelier is really hard and it’s a really great program, but in my opinion, the WSET diploma is way harder and a much bigger accomplishment. But if I tell a consumer, it means nothing to them. So I guess it’s a matter of perception.
BP: Would you be interested in forming a group of industry folks dedicated to helping other beverage folks in need and working to get things re-opened safely.
CH: Sure, I was part of a sommelier group that got together to help Rustic Kitchen in Santa Monica. It really wasn’t much, but as a group we committed to telling folks to dine or order from them if they were in the area, it resulted in over 200 orders and it looks like they’re going to make it through. So yea, I’m totally committed to that. Many hands make light work.
BP: Absolutely, so I’d like to end this with what I call 5 Questions. I’m just going to pick 2 words, and I need you to quickly choose the one that’s you.
CH: (Laughing) OK, let’s go..
5 Questions…
Red or White – White
Heavy or Soft – Soft
Mountains or Sea – Sea
Appetizer or Dessert – Appetizer
Vegas or Paris – Paris
BP: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to speak with us, I really appreciate it.
CH: You’re welcome and thank you.
Website: https://bythestem.co
Wine Club: https://insidethecellar.com/pages/bythestem